Trance Awake
by Hylian Shadow
Summary: In a future Hyrule, a future Link gets a vision of his pasts.


_Author's Notes: First off, this is a future Hyrule fic, so Hyrule is very different from the Hyrule of the games. The more things change, the more they stay the same and all that._

_This note originally mentioned that this might be the beginning of a series, and it now is. It's not a perfect continuation of this story, although the events of this do happen, and it features the same Link in the same Hyrule__. The continuation is a separate story here called "Future Hyrule: Courage Never Dies." _

_Final-battle spoilers for _Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time, _and _Adventure of Link, _as well as vague spoilers for _A Link to the Past._ Nothing too blatant, but there's the warning all the same._

**Trance Awake**

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," I say, again, simply because I feel like restating that. I still can't figure out how coming to a damned club is going to help me find this 'very knowledgeable person' Historian Chambers _insists_ I find.

No matter how much Chambers says he knows the legends, I still have my doubts. I mean, yes, I know the legends, too, or at least the fragments that have been pieced together. But come on; he claims I'm the hero the legends talk about, and I'm just another guy. Besides, if I'm really the "legendary hero" he claims I am, why am I being sent to a club on the edge of town looking for some guy I've never heard of before? How do I know all of this isn't just some huge joke on the new hire?

"Look, do you want to talk to Kafei or not?" Marin says with a sigh, tossing her glitter-covered hair over her shoulder. "This is where he works; he's one of the DJs here."

I sigh to myself, the words _unimportant detail_ coming to mind. "Fine, but can we just get this over with?"

"Mr. Chambers never said you were this impatient," she replies, turning back towards the door. "C'mon, let's go."

The bouncer is this tall, well-muscled woman, with long red hair and tan skin and green eyes with a mischievous gleam in them. She gives Marin a quick once-over, and then she checks me over, taking much longer. I don't know who I dislike more at the moment, the bouncer for looking at me like that, or Marin for talking me into wearing such a tight shirt.

"IDs, please," she finally says, her voice soft but commanding, her eyes never leaving me. I pull my license out as fast as I can and show it to her. She glances at Marin's card and then gives it back; she lingers on my card, smiling as she mouths my name. Damn it, this is _embarrassing_!

"All right, you two. Have fun."

And then we're inside. The club is dimly lit, with lights swaying back and forth over the dance floor. Busy place. It's also _loud_; techno music booms off the walls. I stare at the dance floor, watching the people bounce and jump and sway in rhythm with the pounding beat.

Marin leans towards me. "It looks like he's already started his set; we'll have to wait for him to go on break."

"How long is that going to be?"

"I'm not sure."

I scowl. "And what are we supposed to do until _then_?"

She winks at me, and I get a sinking feeling in my stomach. So much for finding a place to sit... "Since we're already here, how about we dance for a while?"

"You had this planned. And I don't know how to dance."

Marin smiles innocently. "Oh, come on, Link. All you have to do is move to the rhythm; it's easy."

"Says you," I mutter, but there's no point in protesting. Marin has me by the arm and leads me out onto the dance floor. _Farore_, how am I supposed to do this? This is all just some big joke, isn't it? Humiliate Link Day, or something.

The glitter in our hair sparkles in the lights when we stop. She turns to me and grins before starting to dance, moving and swaying in front of me. And I just stand there, because this is the first time I've ever been in a club and I have not the slightest clue what I should do.

This Kafei guy had better know where the damned Hero's Blade itself is for making me go through all of this. I close my eyes, mostly so I can avoid looking at Marin while she dances, and decide to just listen to the music. It's slow right now, slow and soft.

Someone, Marin no doubt, grabs my hand and starts moving my arm. I try to keep that limb limp, but next thing I know, my arm is moving on its own. She grabs me by the other shoulder.

"You have to dance if you're on the dance floor, Link," she says in my ear.

I want to snap back that I didn't want to be on this stupid dance floor, but I give in and let Marin make me dance. The music starts to pick up in tempo; Marin speeds up with it. Her hands are still on my shoulder and wrist, but she's not making me move anymore; I'm doing that myself.

The music keeps pounding, synthesizers singing over the never-ending beat. It isn't until after the melody changes completely that I realize that it's an endless song, too. Marin says something, but I can't hear her. All my mind registers is the beat and the song and the pounding of my heart in my ears...

Nothing matters except the beat, the motion, the lights flashing above my head. Everything else is extraneous, unnecessary. I keep moving, dancing -- and then it's like I'm falling, free --

-- faces I don't recognize flash in my mind. A hundred voices say a thousand things at once. Part of my mind tries to separate each from the cacophony of noise _--_

-- "_Who are you?" _--

-- I charge down the cracking stairwell of a crumbling tower, her hand in mine. We're not dying here, not now, I say over and over in my head, distracting myself from the ominous rumbling all around us. A few of his remaining minions still try to stop us while she opens the door, but they're no match for my sword.

"He's trying to bury us," she gasps as we start running again. "He seeks to bury us in the rubble of his tower!"

He thinks he can bury us, but in the end the only one getting buried is him, one way or the other. But he's not buried; he bursts out of a pile of rubble and laughs maniacally before turning into a monster and sending my blade flying. She screams as the pig-thing's second swing aims at my head. I pull off the best tuck-and-roll in my life as I dodge between its legs. I'm not giving up now, sword or no sword --

-- It seems strange that a princess knows archery, but right now there are bigger worries. It's just as well that she can shoot; he spurs his horse hard, making quick turns to the sides to try to gain as much ground on me as he can. And there's a small army of pig-riders coming up from behind. I have my hands full just keeping up with him.

He falls from his horse; I leap from Epona and charge, drawing my sword to finish this. But he's not as hurt as I think. He stands up and draws a massive blade that gleams golden in the twilight. I skid to a halt outside of his reach. With a laugh, he conjures up a circle of fire around the two of us. Epona whinnies somewhere beyond.

"It ends now, _boy_," he says with a sneer, holding his free hand up and gesturing for me to come at him, whistling a sharp note. I narrow my eyes. _Wait for an opening,_ I tell myself. _Don't rush in_ --

-- The clearing is mostly quiet, the only sounds those of animals. Compared to the rest of the Lost Woods, this place is downright peaceful. I walk forward, wondering where this is, and the three pendants around my neck grow warm.

There's a pedestal ahead, its white marble a harsh contrast to the green grass. And in the pedestal is the most beautiful sword I am ever seen, point down in the center. The whole thing has a feeling of incredible age to it, and yet the sword looks sharp and ready for use.

As I approach, the pendants get warmer and warmer, until they're practically burning against my neck. I wrap my hand around the sword's hilt; it fits perfectly, as if the hilt were made specially for me. It vibrates against my palm, urging me to draw it. I pull the blade free of its marble sheath --

-- I walk slowly into the room, partly from caution and partly from exhaustion. Is this damned palace ever going to end?

"You made it, I see..." a strange old man says; he sits on a balcony overlooking the level I'm on, a gleaming golden triangle beside him. _He's the guardian of the Triforce_. "But there is one final test..." and with that he disappears.

The world flashes brilliantly as powerful magic explodes in front of me. I grit my teeth as it shoves me back and yanks something from me. Ignoring the pain, I force myself to open my eyes. Standing before me is... _me._ My shadow, come to life. He doesn't speak. He merely grins evilly and lunges --

-- "The keys to defeating evil," I hear myself saying, "are the eight pieces of the Triforce of Courage combined with the sacred Master Sword. They must be kept safe. Only I can --"

-- "You accept this as your duty, knowing as you do that this struggle is eternal?" a woman asks. Her voice comforts me, even as her words trouble me.

"I do. If I refuse, the struggle will not continue... because he will have won."

"Then know this, my child. You will never truly be alone. You will have friends to aid you whenever you must fight. And know that no matter where you are or _when _you are, I shall be watching over you --"

-- "_Link."_ --

"Link? Are you all right?"

The world starts fading back into focus. The endless pulse of the rhythm is quieter now, and the room looks different, smaller. I sit up. "Where am I? What was all of that?"

I'm on a couch, and Marin's kneeling in front of me. A man with purple hair stands behind her, looking worried.

"It's okay, Link," Marin says. "We're in one of the back rooms at the club. You passed out on the dance floor."

"I passed out?" I don't feel like I fainted. I feel hyper. I feel _alive._

"Yeah," the purple-haired man says, kneeling beside her. "You were out there dancing, and then you just fell over. You feel okay?"

I nod.

He grins. "That's good. Well, anyway, you must be the person Rauru said was coming to see me. Name's Kafei Dotour. You must be Link."

"Yeah, that's me," I say, stretching. I don't really think I passed out, so I'm not sure why I'm back here. "Historian Chambers said you could help me out."

Kafei nods. "He said you were a historian, yourself, but you don't really look like one."

"I get that a lot. Anyway, as you were saying?"

"Oh, right. Well, it turns out that a couple of months ago, some of the researchers connected to the Royal Museum of History made an interesting discovery out in the Northern Plains..."


End file.
